of Mouse and Men
by auramender
Summary: The story of transition as Mouse's dreams give way to realilty.
1. Prologue

Snorting awake all at once, Matt heard the alarm clock gradually come into existence. He lifted his head lazily away from his pillow and cleared his throat before checking the time to find that the alarm was an hour and a half early. He frowned, groaned, hit the button and rolled over, intending to go back to sleep. He sat bolt upright as a loud and unwavering sound shook his bones and he realised that it was his alarm clock again. This time he frowned, growled, pulled the clock out of the wall and threw it across the room before rolling over, determined to go back to sleep. That was when his phone rang.

"Fuck." He whispered to himself. He knew he would have to get up and answer it, he didn't have a machine to do it for him. He didn't move. Maybe the caller would just give up. His cell phone added to the cacophony, singing to him from the floor somewhere and Matt resigned himself to life, pulling his legs under him and reaching into the pile of clothes below him. He pulled the cell from the back pocket of a pair of jeans. He sighed and answered. The house phone cut out it's ringing the moment he pushed the answer button on his cell. That was odd. In contemplating this occurrence he had neglected to say anything into the phone.

"Hello Mouse." Said a smooth voice on the other end of the line.

Matt's eyes opened fully for the first time that morning, "How do you know that name?"

"We know much." Said that same voice, "But there isn't time."

"What do you mean?" Matt could almost hear the man smile.

"Any unusual dreams lately?"

Matt's response was halted by sudden images of a white room, black suits and a silver bug scuttling across his abdomen. He tried again to speak but the words, again, were halted.

"Your favourite station in twenty minutes." A click signified the termination of the call.


	2. Chapter One

Matt couldn't focus on the monitor, opting instead to look around him every few seconds and at his watch in between. He had moved faster than ever before in his life after that call and had left himself with a thirteen minute wait. He turned back to the monitor and chewed on his thumb nervously. At least he would hear anyone coming in the silence of the library. It was frustrating, not having a hook-up of his own. He could write programs on his own computer but to do anything with them he needed an internet link which he couldn't afford. Fortunately the library didn't charge for internet use.

Mouse noticed the girl across the table looking at him with a scowl crunching her plain features and realised that it was his rapidly tapping foot that was annoying her. He stopped and breathed deeply, shifting his weight and trying to think of something to pass the time.

Who was the man who had called him? How did he know him? Why had Matt come running on the orders of some stranger he didn't know?

Matt shook his head and checked his watch. Most of his thirteen minutes had passed. The digits seemed to be climbing more slowly than usual and he was sure that if someone were to fire a gun just then that he would be able to see the bullet dragging through the air at a snail's pace. What the hell was taking so long? He had skipped the shower because he had figured he wouldn't make it on time and he was wishing that he had taken that time. He didn't smell bad because he always kept his room really cold and didn't sweat much but he still liked to know that he had showered.

Matt was jerked from his thoughts when his monitor cut out and he found himself staring blankly at the empty window which stared blankly back.

_hello mouse. _The green lettering echoed the voice of the mysterious caller of twenty minutes previous. Mouse blinked. He had never seen anything like this before and he held his hands over the keys with no idea of what he should do next.

_Wtf? _Was all he could come up with before leaning back in his chair and chewing on the tip of his thumb. There wasn't a response right away and he wondered if his inarticulate question had driven the man away. He waited a little longer while the knots in his stomach seemed to thrum with energy.

_the matrix has you. _Came the eventual response.

_The cage? _He was a programmer, not a hacker but he had been on a few forums and such. It wasn't easy to do on a public computer but he had know-how on his side. He had heard of the matrix, also called the cage, and he was curious as to what it was.

_do you want to know what it is?_

Mouse stared at the lines of text and realised that his face was inches from the monitor. He looked down at the keys as he typed, which he never did under most circumstances.

Yes.


	3. Chapter Two

"Open your shirt." Said the blonde woman as Matt peered beyond the gun barrel at the face of the bald man with the goatee.

"What?" He asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the two. He jumped a little when the woman leaned in to pull his shirt open and the gun-wielding man flinched as buttons ricocheted against the windows.

"Hey! Switch, take it down a notch will you?" He called out.

"Shut up, Cypher." She said impatiently, pulling a strange device into view, "We think you're bugged." Was all the explanation she offered before clamping the muzzle of the weapon-esque object down onto his abdomen, surrounding his navel.

"Wait." He muttered uncertainly. Switch was already adjusting the handle and gazing intently at what appeared to be a screen.

Matt screamed suddenly as sparks shot out of the odd device and when he opened his eyes he saw a familiar little dragonfly thing in the glass chamber attached to what Matt had come to think of as the implement of torture. Switch quickly twisted the chamber loose and discarded it via the open window to her side. Matt heard it break against the road and looked out of the back window in time to see the last blinking flash of a little red LED.

"Sorry about that, kid." Said Cypher, "Trinity usually handles debugging."

"And she usually takes forever." Said Switch with ice in her voice at having her competency questioned.

"Yeah but when she did it I didn't crap my pants from the pain." He countered, gesturing with his pistol in a fashion which made Matt uncomfortable.

"Mouse didn't crap himself either." Matt jumped when Switch used his alias to refer to him.

Cypher only turned to the driver and said, "Apoc, you know what I'm talking about right?"

"Hey, I'm not getting in the middle of this." He said dismissively.

"What was that?" Matt interrupter everyone.

"We told you. It was a tracking device." Switch still sounded pissed.

"You okay kid?" Cypher said, turning back to Matt with a smile.

Matt nodded a deceitful affirmative and clutched at his tummy.

"Bugged." He whispered to himself, "No kidding."

It wasn't long before Switch was leading him toward large double doors. Once there she turned to Matt and fixed him with a piercing gaze.

"A word of advice; watch your mouth." She said evenly, "He knows things."

Unsure of how to respond, Matt opted simply to follow as Switch pushed through the doors and into a large room. Taking in the sparse, yet impressive, surroundings Matt noticed a man at the other end of the room, gazing out of an oversized window. He stared as the man turned to face Switch.

"Thank you, Switch." Said the voice Matt recognised from the phone call earlier that day, "If you would join the others and prepare." He spoke with a calm smile and seemed to know as much as Switch had implied. Matt couldn't help but be impressed by this man.

Matt flinched a little as Switch stalked past him and out of the room the way they had entered.

"Please, take a seat." Said the impressive man. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're the guy who called me this morning." Matt answered with more certainty in his head than in his voice.

"Yes." A kind smile was growing over the man's face as he looked upon Matt as one might a puppy who was having trouble learning a new trick. "You may call me Morpheus."

"Morpheus." Matt confirmed his comprehension and immediately began searching for something to add.

"Let me tell you why you are here." Morpheus's words felt slightly scripted. Like he was about to break into a monologue. "You are here because you know something." He continued, "What you know you can't explain but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life; that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is but it's there like a splinter in your mind," he looked intently at Matt, "driving you mad."

"The cage." Matt hadn't intended to interrupt.

"The Matrix." Morpheus clarified before a pause. "Unfortunately no one can be told what the matrix is…You have to see it for yourself."

"Okay." Matt answered nervously, feeling that he may have bitten off more than he could chew, so to speak.

Morpheus moved to open his hands, presenting two brightly coloured pills. Matt recoiled slightly. He had some experience with drugs and was sworn off of them for life.

"Don't worry." Morpheus assured him, "These are quite harmless."

Matt eyed them with suspicion.

"If you take the blue pill you will wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe." He smiled then, "If you take the red pill I will uncage you and show you what it means to be free."

Matt glanced between each pill and the man holding them a few times before selecting the red pill and swallowing it far more easily than his concerns. He was feeling very overwhelmed by the experience and everyone seemed to be a little crazy.

Morpheus's smile widened and he stood. "Come with me." He said.

The next room he was led to was buzzing with activity as everyone he had met thus far worked consoles and machinery. Morpheus led him to a chair and began attaching wires to his arms and head.

"The pill you took was a part of a trace program and was designed to disrupt your input/output carrier signals." Morpheus explained.

"Disrupt how?" Was Matt's only question.

"Relax, Mouse." Switch was obviously containing her annoyance.

"Yes, relax. Everything will be made clear in time."

Matt nodded and everyone went back to their stations as Morpheus produced a cell phone. A cold sensation drew Matt's attention to his hand. A drop of water had fallen onto his skin. He looked to the ceiling as another drop accompanied the first. When Matt moved his hand he felt something he couldn't quite define. It was like the water was dripping but in all directions at once. When he looked he found the water spreading outward and encasing his hand in cool, clear, liquid.

"What the…" he frowned for a moment, wondering what the hell had been in that red pill.

"Have you ever had a dream that you were so sure was real?" The monologue feeling was back in Morpheus's voice, "What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How could you tell the difference…?"

Mouse stopped listening as the spreading water began creeping up his arm and touched his shoulder. He was certain that it was getting colder. He squirmed in his chair trying to get away from the unpleasant sensation.

"Get it off." He whispered as loudly as he was able in his state of shock before leaping out of the chair and falling to the floor.

"Mouse!" Morpheus was trying to help Matt to his feet and keep the wires attached at the same time.

The water was sliding across his ribs and chilling his skin even as it spread the other way and stole along the length of his neck, claiming his jawline. Matt was trembling violently.

"Mo-Morpheus…" He stuttered.

"It's okay, Mouse." He assured the boy, pushing him back into the chair and stroking his head gently. He then lifted the phone to his ear and spoke into it, "Tank, we need it now."

"He's freakin' out." Cypher informed the room.

"No shit." Matt assumed that Switch had spoken.

"We got him!" Apoc called out.

"Now, Tank! Now!" Morpheus's words were the last thing to be heard before the water surged into Matt's mouth and stole the world away from him.


	4. Chapter Three

It was different this time.

Normally as Matt awoke the world seemed to materialise around him. On this occasion he had the distinct impression that he was now drifting into a world which had always been there regardless of his absence and would continue without him.

He opened his eyes to take in this unfeeling world. As he rubbed the sleep from his vision he felt something tug at his left arm and he lifted a cable into view the end of which appeared to be embedded in his arm. He gingerly pulled at it and as it shifted slightly he could see what looked to be a large needle emerged from a small plug which he feared was actually fitted into his arm. He finished removing the violating insertion perhaps too quickly and flinched at the pain. The metallic plug remained in his arm.

Memory flooded him and he could see a vat of pink goo and a mass of cables surrounding his naked self. Something had come to him and…

He reached his hand to the back of his head and slowly located what he dreaded would be present; another, larger, plug in his head. He whimpered softly at this discovery.

The door to the small room he was in opened to admit a dark-haired woman in shabby clothes. She looked from him to the cable which had, until recently, been slotted into his arm. Evidently the removal of the needle had alerted her of his waking.

"Hello." She said cautiously, "I'm Trinity. How are you feeling?"

The name 'Trinity' had been used before by those other people. Matt struggled to speak, "I'm not sure." He admitted. Why was it so difficult to even speak?

"It'll take you a while to get used to using your muscles." Said Trinity, apparently having read from my expression how difficult he was finding basic tasks.

"Well how long have I been asleep?" He asked her, wondering how long it would take for his muscles to atrophy, especially to such an extensive degree.

"All your life." She told him. At first, Matt had taken this to be a poetic interpretation and waited for her to finish her answer but it was clear from her expression that she was serious.

"What do you mean?" He noticed that his lips, jaw, tongue and throat were already growing tired.

"Come on." She urged him gently, "You'll understand soon."

Matt stood and swayed on his feet before overbalancing. He was caught by Trinity, who helped him to find his feet and, looking down, he noticed that his own attire was almost identical to Trinity's.

"Where are my clothes?" He asked, remembering, once again, the vat of pink goo in which he had found himself completely naked. He remembered being in a great deal of pain as numerous cables detached themselves from him at once and then he was falling…

"You'll understand soon." She repeated and began walking with him to the door.

"Mouse?" Cypher spoke from the doorway and, as Matt looked up, he got the impression that he hadn't come looking for Mouse. "How is he, Trinity?"

"Mouse?" Trinity enquired with less edge to her voice than Cypher had employed.

"I'll be fine." He answered, moving away from Trinity and attempting to keep his balance, as she placed a hand on his shoulder as if to check, by touch, how steady he was. When she seemed satisfied that he could stay upright under his own power, she led the way out of the room. As Matt walked past him he wondered briefly why Cypher had come in the first place. It seemed that he had been looking for Trinity.

As he followed Trinity with Cypher in tow, he contemplated something which had been tugging at his mind for a while; Switch, Cypher, Apoc, Morpheus and now Trinity. Morpheus had also addressed someone as 'Tank' on the phone earlier. Everyone had been referring to Matt as 'Mouse' which was his online alias. It seemed that he was in the company of hackers.

"He's up." Matt recognised Switch's voice, even through the appraising tone.

"Really?" That was Apoc.

"How do you feel, Mouse?" Matt stopped as Morpheus moved in front of him.

"A little weak." He said with a slur beginning to form in his mouth.

"That's no surprise." Said Morpheus, "After all, you have regained consciousness several days ahead of schedule." He seemed concerned, "Your muscles are not yet ready to take action."

"I don't understand." He spoke his honest thoughts despite his rapidly depleting strength.

"Are you ready for the answers, Mouse?" Morpheus placed his hands on Matt's shoulders as he spoke.

Looking up, he answered with a nod, giving up on speech for the time being.

The butterflies in his stomach exploded as he was led to a chair, memories of water flooding his mind, and he hesitated, fear evident on his face.

"There is nothing to fear." Morpheus assured him, "You can trust us."

Climbing nervously onto the chair, he suppressed his tension as he was strapped in.

"This will feel…odd." Came the brief warning as Matt felt the plug in his head being moved by something. He shuddered and fell to the floor, gasping. That was when he realised that his strength had returned. He stood and looked about himself, he was dressed in a more familiar style and stood in a white room.

Looking again he realised that he had been mistaken. He wasn't in a room at all; just a white space.

"Where am I?" He murmured.

"This is the construct." Came Morpheus's simple and enigmatic answer.

"It's like…" Matt wasn't sure how to say that it felt like the world he was used to, where he had lived his entire life before arriving in that strange place of plugs, cables and weakness.

"Yes. It is." Said Morpheus, knowingly.

"Is this the cage?" He asked, "The Matrix?"

"No, although it isn't entirely dissimilar."

Matt did the math quickly; if this place felt so much like the world he was used to and this wasn't the Matrix, but was similar, then…

"Then…"

"Yes." Was all the man said.

And suddenly Matt understood so much.

Morpheus moved to take a seat where there hadn't been one previously, in front of a television which also hadn't been there before.

As Matt haltingly took the remaining chair he tried to sort through his questions before voicing them.

"This is the world you know." Said Morpheus as the TV displayed an image of New York, then Washington and then the Eiffel tower. "It is the world as it was in the final decade of the 20th century." He raised a remote control toward the TV and the image changed to what looked like a battle scarred no-man's land, "You've been living in a dream world, Mouse. This is the world as it exists today."

As Matt gazed at the image he struggled not to believe.

"It is sometime toward the end of the 22nd century in which the machines have enslaved the human race."

"Machines?"

Morpheus smiled, "It wasn't long after the time period you are accustomed to when humanity created it's greatest work," He paused before finishing with two letters, "A.I."

"The machines…" Matt had that feeling of understanding again.

"Welcome," Morpheus spoke as the white space shifted and swirled into an image resembling the one on the TV screen, "to the desert of the real."

Matt looked around, taking particular notice of the blackened sky.

"We don't know who struck first, us or them, but we do know that it was us who scorched the sky."

"The sun…" Matt breathed.

"Yes. At the time machines were dependant on solar power and it was believed that they would not survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun." He looked to Matt for a moment before gazing at the dead sky, "Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."

Matt turned to Morpheus, certain that he would not appreciate whatever was coming next.

"The human body generates-"

"Oh god." Matt interrupted as Morpheus's next words made themselves apparent in his mind.

Morpheus paused for a moment before saying, "Yes. The Matrix is the world with which humanity has been presented in order to keep us docile so as to turn a human being," He held out his hand, "into this."

Matt suddenly recognised what was held in that hand - a battery. Breathing heavily, he tried to process everything he had just been told, "It can't be…"

"I didn't say that it would be easy, Mouse." Morpheus told him, "I just said it would be the truth."

Mouse collapsed into his chair, "Okay."


	5. Chapter Four

Awaking again in his room - he tried not to think of it as a cell - Matt considered everything that he had learned the previous day. None of it had been real; his life, his home, his world...all of it was a lie. What did that mean? What did that make him? Who was he if his life was a lie?

"Mouse?" Tank was emerging into his room and, for the first time, the name 'Mouse' didn't feel strange and foreign to him.

"Yeah?" He readily adopted his alias as his name and suddenly felt that he was somehow free. Like he had discarded his slave name and taken his own.

"Come on. It's time to begin your training." Tank was the sort of man who spoke softly and with excitement and his smile was infectious.

Walking back with him to the same consoles and chairs as from the previous day, Mouse noticed that Tank's skin was flawless. "Tank?" He ventured.

"Yeah?"

"Were you born here?" Mouse hadn't fully formulated his meaning before asking the question and tried to elaborate, "I mean…not in the Matrix."

"Well not here…" Tank's smile had taken on a knowing aspect, "I'm Zionborn."

"Zion?" Mouse had asked because Tank didn't have any plugs on him.

"You'll see." He finished before gesturing to a chair. It was the same chair he had been plugged into the day previous and Mouse was soon hooked up to the strange equipment once again.

It was a strange sensation to have information and skills simply uploaded into his brain. Through practice he discovered that hand-to-hand combat wasn't his forte. His defensive skills were sufficient but when compared to the likes of Morpheus and Trinity he just couldn't hold his own. Switch had a monopoly on handguns and marksmanship whilst Apoc was a wizard with rifles and automatics. Cypher was skilled in stealth and ninja-style sneak attacks. Trinity was undoubtedly the best when it came to agility and getting from A to B quickly and gracefully. Mouse was beginning to worry that he wouldn't have any special attribute to offer the crew. Until, that is, he discovered the heavy artillery training programs. With his Matrix-freed mind he was strong enough to hold weapons most commonly seen mounted on gunships and he was very talented. Another skill came to the attention of the crew after he had been equipped with knowledge of the Matrix's coding. He began programming in the language of the Matrix and the crew was very impressed. Starting small, he designed variations of guns and clothes as well as accessories such as shades (the whole crew seemed fond of shades) and before long he had started work on a project he called 'RED' the function of which he maintained as a mystery as far as the other crewmembers were concerned.

Mouse jumped when Morpheus spoke his name from mere feet away.

"I need to speak with you." He said with seriousness in his voice.

"Okay." Mouse replied while closing down all three of the programs he was working on at the time.

"Mouse…" Morpheus seemed to be gathering his thoughts before he spoke and Mouse shifted uncomfortably, "Normally when a mind is freed, the person is given a place in the Zion academy and is properly trained before he or she can join a crew. The problem with this is twofold."

Mouse was already reeling. He had only just come to terms with the crew here and now he would have to leave?

"Firstly, you are much older than most of the new recruits."

"I'm nineteen." Mouse protested.

"I am aware of that. Secondly," He continued, "You have proven yourself to be of great use to this crew and to me."

Mouse knew that the shock was evident on his face.

"I have already made radio contact with Zion and informed them of your situation. They have agreed that, should you chose to do so, you may remain here on board the Nebuchadnezzar."

Relief washed through Mouse from top to toe, "Well that's a no-brainer." He smiled.

"That's good news Mouse."

"Wait. Radio contact?" Mouse frowned, "I thought you said-"

"I took a risk." Was the simple answer before Morpheus left and Mouse turned back to his work.

Some time later Switch was leaning over his shoulder, "What are you working on?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's a - um - it's a skill program. It's not finished and there are some bugs I can't seem to work around."

"Oh." Switch replied and left, apparently bored already.

"Don't mind her." Said Cypher from nearby, startling Mouse. He decided to pay more attention in the future if only to spare himself these constant frights, "So long as you don't piss her off you'll be fine."

"What do I do if I piss her off?" Asked Mouse.

"You jack into the Matrix and go looking for an agent." Said Cypher with a strange smile.

"Agent?"

Cypher just looked at him, not understanding the question. A sudden look of comprehension overcame his features as he exclaimed, "Oh that's right you don't know about them yet! Man, I always say it should be a part of basic training." He moved closer to Mouse before continuing, "If you ever see a serious-looking guy wearing a dark suit and shades…run."

Mouse nodded nervously.

"So…what did you say you were working on there?" Cypher moved to the position which Switch had recently vacated, "What sort of skill?"

"Um…well with all the guns I've seen since I've been in the construct I figure we'll need some way to avoid being shot." Said Mouse, feeling entirely unprepared for a presentation.

"Is it some sort of stealth technique?" Asked Cypher, seeming half excited at a new skill in his field and half worried that it might make him redundant.

"No it's - uh - a sort of…well I call it 'the dance' because it…um…" How the hell did he explain this program?

"No way!" Cypher exclaimed, "Hey Switch you almost missed out on this!" He shouted.

"What?" She instantly reappeared and gazed at the monitor.

"Tell her. Tell her what it does."

Mouse was a little shaken by the sudden attention, "Um…it calculates probability and…it…uh…"

"Spit it out." Switch sounded really pissed at being called over for no apparent reason.

"It's for dodging bullets." Mouse finally managed to choke out.

"No shit. Are you serious?" Switch's sudden mood swing from pissed to pleased left Mouse speechless.

"Does it work?" Cypher asked.

"Well…no." Said Mouse, "Well not yet. I still have to work on it a little more."

"Will it work?" Switch sounded much more practical.

"I hope so but I've hit a few snags. Is this a big deal?"

"Kid!" Cried Cypher, "The Agents I was telling you about? One of the reasons we can't take them on is because they can dodge bullets." He said very quickly, "If we can do that too then we can fight them."

"No we can't." Said Switch with authority, "If both sides can dodge bullets then guns are useless and we can't take them on hand-to-hand."

"Yeah, but."

"No." Switch cut Cypher off, "No doubt it'll be useful but if you want to test it on an Agent you can go alone."

Cypher had nothing more to say after that.


	6. Chapter Five

The crew fell silent, spoons frozen halfway from goop to mouth, and watched with a degree of anticipation that intensified Mouse's perpetual nervousness.

"Finish your meals and prepare yourselves for upload." Morpheus told the room, "There is someone I would like to introduce you to Mouse."

"Who?" But Morpheus had already gone, presumably to prepare the jack-in, and Mouse turned to the other crewmembers. "Is it important?" He asked them.

"Usually." Switch told him.

"Who is it?"

"The Oracle." Trinity breathed.

"An oracle? You mean like a seer?" Mouse wasn't sure if it was the reaction of the rest of the crew that had sparked him but he was suddenly very interested, "He can see the future? Is that a Matrix thing? Is there an upload for it?"

"No." Said Apoc. "She is unique."

Mouse tried to avoid the eyes of the two women in the room after realising his faux pas of assuming the person was a man and he opted to quickly finish his goop - for he struggled to think of it as food - and he hurried to the jack-in. It wasn't long before everyone was inside.

Mouse immediately decided that it was a mistake to allow Tank to select his wardrobe for him, feeling bothered by the long coat and stiff shirt. He had to admit that the shades were cool though. Something was weighing against his breast and he checked to find a gun holstered there. Pulling it out he looked quizzically at Morpheus, "Will I be needing this?"

"Let's hope not." He barely seemed to be paying attention.

Mouse promptly checked the weapon to discover that it had a full magazine loaded as well as a bullet in the chamber ; an overloaded gun which was ready to be used the moment the safety was disengaged. He noticed that the interlock with the frame was made of a denser metal than normal. It was designed for someone like Switch who was a badass marksman. Mouse wasn't sure if he could manage the recoil without shifting the mechanism. Stowing the weapon in its holster he agreed silently with Morpheus in his hopes that its use would prove unnecessary and turned to face the group.

Turning proved irksome on account of all the layers of clothing. Mouse was sure he felt a vest at the bottom of it all and then there was the fitted black shirt and the waistcoat over that. Over it all was a stylish but cumbersome trench coat which seemed ready to trip him at any moment. The trousers were very smart but they were a little tight around the thighs and the shoes felt sort of insubstantial. He liked to wear either sneakers or boots that weighed more than he did. Dress shoes were a nuisance.

"Someone remind me to program my own wardrobe." He said, although he did notice that Switch was looking him over appraisingly when she thought nobody would notice.

"Maybe you'd like something a little more Trinity's style." Cypher joked to the displeasure of the vinyl-clad woman.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded.

"Nothing." He held up his hands in mock-surrender.

"What's wrong Trin?" Apoc asked with a mischievous smile, "You're not worried he might show you up are you?"

Switch actually laughed at this. At least it seemed like laughter. Maybe she sneezed. Mouse wasn't sure.

"Are we all ready?" Morpheus asked, breaking up any arguments before they broke out.

Everybody nodded their affirmatives and the group headed out.

"So…what usually happens when someone goes to see the Oracle?" Mouse asked of Switch, mostly to gauge how much that appraising look had meant.

"Usually? She turns your life around." She said with as much enthusiasm as he had come to expect from her.

"It's a little late for that." Mouse smiled slightly.

"You'd think so. Wouldn't you?" She sounded a little bitter at that point and Mouse decided to end the dialogue there.

"You all know your positions. Keep the exit secure. We will only be as long as it takes." Morpheus spoke without demand in his voice. He was obviously a man who didn't need to make demands.

Everyone moved to their individual stations as Morpheus led Mouse into an elevator, answering his cell phone just as the doors slid shut. After a second or so Morpheus stiffened and spoke quietly into the phone, "How many?…Are you sure?" He seemed to come to a decision, "Very well. Get the others out." After this he pocketed the cell and spoke to Mouse, "The Oracle will have to wait."

"What's happened?"

"An Agent."

Mouse gasped, suddenly feeling that the elevator was far too small for only two people. Just then their movement shuddered to a halt and the doors parted to reveal a serious-looking guy wearing a dark suit and shades. Mouse immediately recalled Cypher's words but there was nowhere to run to as the man drew a large calibre handgun and stepped into the elevator pointing the weapon at Morpheus. As Mouse pressed himself into the corner of the small box the three men found themselves in, Morpheus pushed the Agent's gun to face the ceiling and drew his own, swinging it's trajectory over Mouse to face his opponent. Before a bullet could be fired the serious-looking guy had gripped Morpheus's wrist and was holding his hand away from himself and Mouse found that both men's guns were uncomfortably close to him as he drew his own.

"Mouse! Go!" Shouted Morpheus as Mouse began firing at the Agent, who twisted away from the man he was pinning and twirled with grace before connecting a punch with Mouse's face, throwing him against the wall of the elevator. When he had gathered his bearings again, Mouse looked up to see Morpheus grappling with the man again, "Go!" There was a demand in Morpheus's voice this time and Mouse obeyed despite the desperate panic that was rising up in him now, slipping out of the elevator even as the doors slid closed behind him. Once on the outside he noticed that Morpheus must have pushed a button on the inside as the indicator told him that the elevator was shifting to another floor. He immediately felt the anguish crashing against him as he realised that he had just allowed Morpheus to fight a battle he couldn't win and had allowed him to do so alone. He yelped aloud when his phone rang.

"Tank?" He called, almost shrilly, as he answered.

"What are you doing? Get out of there?" Came the operator's voice.

"How?" Mouse asked, trying to regain control of his breathing.

"There's a window to your left which leads onto a fire escape." He told him with forced calm, "Use that."

As Mouse moved toward the window he asked, "Morpheus?"

"He's already out of the elevator two floors below you but the Agent is right on him. Oh Shit! Mouse, turn back and run!"

Mouse froze as Tank spoke very quickly and he didn't obey until he saw another Agent emerge into the hallway from one of the apartments to stand between Mouse and his intended exit. Mouse was still holing his weapon and immediately aimed a shot at the Agent. He remembered what Cypher had told him as the Agent broke into a strange, serpentine dance, avoiding his gunfire. Without remembering that he had noticed the fire extinguisher to the side of the Agent, he fired a shot directly at it, breaking it open and blinding his target with the emission. Mouse followed up by emptying his magazine into the cloud and was shocked when something flashed from within the swirling mass of airborne chemicals. He thought for a moment that a stray bullet had smashed into something electrical until he saw, through the cloud, a body. It wasn't the Agent. He had shot and killed an elderly woman.

"Keep moving!" The insistent instruction sounded muted in his ear and he pushed the phone closer to his ear.

"Tank, I…I just killed someone."

"Get out of there! Keep moving!"

A deafening crash caused him to whirl on the spot to face the same Agent who was emerging into the hallway once more from another door.

Turning back to face the window, he sprinted and leapt through the glass even as he felt the crippling pain of a high-calibre slug shredding his right lung. The metal stairs of the fire escape struck out at him as he tumbled past them and into the alleyway at the bottom. Pushing himself to his feet, he found that he had dropped both the gun and the cell phone. Clutching at the cell, he abandoned the useless gun and fled at his top speed, clutching his heavily bleeding chest and struggling for air as blood poured from his parted lips. He spat as he moved and licked some of the blood from his lips even as more surged to replace it.

"Mouse!? Oh my god! Are you okay!?" Tank sounded frantic.

"Tank." Mouse couldn't speak in any more than a whisper and he found that he would have to adhere to small words or risk running out of breath mid-word, "Get me…out…Please."

More gunfire sounded from behind him and he stumbled as he felt another bullet sting his leg.

"Oh shit!" Tank's voice had risen an octave or two and Mouse could hear him blitzing his keyboard, typing in commands, "The door to your right!" He screamed at him and Mouse obeyed, barging through the door as the brick to his side exploded. Mouse silently thanked whatever god would listen that the bullet had struck the wall and not him.

"What the hell?" Mouse had no idea who had spoken or where he was and spared no time to glance at the woman in the chef's hat. He pushed on as his cell went dead. He dropped it and looked about himself.

"There's food in here!" Some large man was yelling at him so loud that Mouse almost didn't hear the phone to his left spring into life. "Get out!"

"Okay." He breathed, trying to keep the world focused in front of him. He picked up the receiver and was glad to feel the pain of his broken body left behind in that frightening world.


End file.
